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Roger named 2009 ITF World Champion

The ITF announced today that Roger and Serena Williams are the 2009 ITF World Champions. This is the fifth time Roger has been honoured, while Williams receives the award for the second time.

Roger Federer regained the world No. 1 ranking from Rafael Nadal after a record-breaking year which saw him complete a career Grand Slam at Roland Garros with victory over Robin Soderling in the final. He went on to surpass Pete Sampras by winning his 15th Grand Slam title at Wimbledon after a memorable final contest against Andy Roddick. Federer was also runner-up at the Australian Open and US Open, and helped his country retain its World Group status in Davis Cup by BNP Paribas.

Roger Federer said: “It is an honour for me to be named ITF World Champion for a fifth time. It was an incredible year for me both on and off the court. To win my first Roland Garros title, break the all-time Grand Slam record and regain the No. 1 ranking is amazing. It means a lot to me to finish the year again at the top.”

The ITF’s selection of its senior World Champions is based on an objective system that considers not only performances in the Grand Slam tournaments and respective tours, but also gives weight to performances in the two ITF international team competitions, Davis Cup by BNP Paribas and Fed Cup by BNP Paribas.

ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti said: “This has been another memorable year for tennis, with some outstanding performances by our World Champions. Roger Federer has truly earned his place in the history books, while the Williams sisters remain the strongest competitors on the women’s tour.”